Share this:
I remember watching Julie Goodwin face the judges in the final round of MasterChef, revealing what kind of cookbook she would write if she became Australian’s first MasterChef winner. It was when she talked of a family cookbook that celebrated her love of food and her desire to connect with and nourish her loved ones, that I knew her win was in the bag.
There was much controversy over Goodwin’s MasterChef win. Many lamented the fact that a home-cook (albeit a talented one) should never have taken the title, and that perhaps the likes of Justine Schofield and Chris Badenoch, chefs in the ‘truer’ sense of the word, should have had a shot at the title.
I guess Goodwin’s win, in a way, redefines the boundaries of what comprises a Chef, and it’s without a doubt that the boundaries of such a label were superceded by Goodwin’s skill, talent and passion for cooking – a skill that is showcased beautifully in her new book.
Our Family Table, released today by Ebury Press, does not disappoint. Experienced, professional chefs (or wannabes) may not be rolling around in ghee upon opening this new hardcover tome, but everyone else will.
Following the stylings of the MasterChef Series One cookbook in December last year, Our Family Table is not about how to a julienne a duck or create truffle ganache. It’s not about feeling overwhelmed or dwarfed by knife-wielding skills or recipes that call for 18 hours preparation or instruments used in microsurgery. It’s about creating great, delicious and beautiful food, at home, for your family, with competence, ease and enjoyment.
It’s about Spaggy bol. It’s about ‘not very authentic’ fried rice. Very quick omelettes. Orange jam. Buttermilk pancakes. Thai pork salad. Recipes you will eat and recipes you will cook and recipes you can make.
The book is gorgeously styled. A semi-cloth-bound hardcover, simple and beautiful styling and a blue grosgrain ribbon for marking pages. The recipes are broken into heart-warming chapters like Good Morning, Sweet Treats, Feeding the Multitudes and Rainy Day Cooking that will send you back to childhood. The Damper on a Stick, for example, sent me hurtling back to a Girl Guides camping trip, winding fat wads of damper dough around green sticks, baking them over open flame and filling the resultant hole with an oozing of golden syrup.
The book also contains a wonderful section on Christmas feasting and the coup de grâce is the beautiful end-section with stylised pages to record your own recipes, thoughts and food memories – to share with your family and beyond.
Peppered with gorgeous family photos that do not border on twee, the author also includes reminiscences on her childhood and grandparents – memories that have clearly influenced her love of cooking. You can hear Julie Goodwin’s real voice in this book – and Our Family Table is a prime example of a book that has been beautifully created yet not suffered an untimely butchering from an overenthusiastic editor.
Unpretentious, beautiful and as warm as the author herself, this book is a breath of fresh air and I won’t be parting with my copy any time soon. It has also inspired me to start keeping my own family cookbook. While I might not be a MasterChef, isn’t cooking all about love, togetherness and enjoyment? If you vote yes, then Our Family Table is the book for you.
And yes, Julie fans… don’t panic – Lemon Diva Cupcakes are included.
I asked my family to buy this book for me for Mother’s Day because I was so impressed with this heartfelt review. Thanks for that because it is one of the best cookbooks I own. Personally, I’ve come to tire of the modern style of cooking – always some ingredient that even the best stocked pantry doesn’t have or it feels as though there’s something missing. There’s just too much cleverness going on. Julie’s cookbook is wonderful. So many traditional recipes and family favourites that are so rarely compiled together. I know I can use this to teach my children how to cook wonderful meals they can carry for a lifetime and refer back to. On the blank pages at the back there will definitely be some personal family favourites. The overall styling of the book is gorgeous as well – a bit Donna Hay but not irritatingly so. Well done, Julie and the team behind this book.
I received the Julie Goodwin cookbook for Mothers day from my daughter, who very proudly went about making the never fail cake for me while I was at work. The cake failed. Thinking she had done something wrong we tried together today and guess what? It failed again. Are we the only ones unable to bake Julies “never fail cake”? Let us know.
Interesting. I’m going to try it this week.
I also recieved this cookbook but for my birthday. I love the styling aswell especially the little sleeve on the back cover for any loose notes or recipes. I take my hat off to Julie for winning Masterchef; it’s quite an achievement.
I do have to say though that the recipes themselves are not as impressive (for me) as I had hoped. Reading the recipes for the first time was similar to reading my own Mum’s recipe book. True to the title “Our Family Table” but are the recipes good enough to publish? I suppose it depends on your own skills as a cook. I’m disappointed.
The “Mum Goodwin’s Chocolate Cake” was probably “the” most disapointing out of the recipes I’ve tried so far. It was so dry and way too crumbly. The good old fashioned “2 min choc cake” from “the Golden Wattle Cookbook” which is a very old Australian basic cookery book has more flavour and better texture/moisture to it and costs less to make.
I’m glad to have “Our Family Table” as part of my extensive cookbook collection but it won’t be my favourite sorry to say.
I was happy to receive Julie’s lovely book for Mothers Day. The Lemon Diva Cupcakes are delicious,but was disappointed with the Orange Jam recipe, I followed the recipe putting pips in an empty teabag etc but the jam failed to set. I also wish Julie would have added the Chocolate Ganache recipe with Mum Goodwin’s chocolate cake recipe!!
I purchased Julie’s cookbook and I think it is a waste of money, a cookbook that has such a basic bland tasting spaghetti bol is a waste of paper, Julie should be ashamed of this book, a ten year old could have created most of these recipes.
Kerry, I couldn’t agree more. What a joke Julie has become after the poor receipe’s in this book.
Pureed potato……please! hardly masterchef
I think calling Julie a joke is a bit rich. She won Australia’s first Masterchef and I think insulting her and her work is not only unfair and uncalled for, it is insulting the people behind the decision to award her this prize… people who are well-respected and talented and vastly experienced in the culinary world.
It’s a mistake to repeatedly lambast Julie over something she’s never pretended to be… a three hat chef. She has never insinuated it and she has never pretended her book is meant to be anything other than a home cook done well.
From a publishing perspective AND a culinary perspective, her book is a gem and sales are a testament to that. If you want Larousse Gastronomique, go and buy the darn thing and get off Julie’s back.
Can you imagine if YOU had come from humble beginnings and won such an incredible prize – how would YOU feel if your countrymen bagged you… just for providing a tried and true and beloved Spaggy Bol recipe from her family’s recipe book. For those of you who don’t seem to have cottoned onto it…. FAMILY RECIPE BOOK is actually the THEME of her book, not Cordon Bleu Chef Book, which, it seems, is what some of you were expecting (!?).
She doesn’t deserve this vilification and typical bloody Aussie Tall Poppy slaying. I’m over it. Let her be. Whip up a Michel Roux or Wolfgang Puck yourself on YOUR humble kitchen stove and THEN you’ll be qualified for such inane lambasting.
We all have our opinions on what we like and don’t like – and I’m absolutely ok with people NOT liking Julie’s book and absolutely ok with people stating recipes don’t work – because this is not acceptable for ANY cookbook. What I find really ugly and can’t abide, however, is misappropriation – something some of these negative comments are steeped, boiled and sauteed in.
I’m completely with Tania. Some of you are just plain idiotic; the title is OUR FAMILY TABLE. duh.